


When Next I Disappear (You And I Are Broken Parts)

by andthesunranon



Category: ONF (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Android!Yuto, Androids, Fantasy, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Road to Kingdom, Science Fiction, Supernatural Elements, Trying to avoid spoilers, kpop, partly inspired by onf mvs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:47:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24841054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthesunranon/pseuds/andthesunranon
Summary: Yuto wakes up in an apartment he doesn't recognise, powering back up after a blackout. There're strange notes and codes across his computer screens, but he can't remember making them, or what they mean. He grows more and more sure he was searching for something- but what? And should he still be searching for it, when he's unsure if his intentions were good?
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	1. Go Live

The circle blinks a few times. There’s a rushing sound as the power comes on, and then the word ' **LOADING** ' appears. The empty bar below it fills with blue light. A few twinkling notes, and the screen lights up. The world shudders before coming into focus, and one by one the usual circles and charts flood the sides of Yuto’s vision. He turns his head from side to side, feeling his weight shift and realising he is sat on a creaking leather chair.

The room around him is dark and lit only by small beams of golden light, streaming through the cloth pinned across the wall in front of him- not brick but glass, his screen tells him, a window. There's a small lamp too, somewhere in the disorder behind him, casting the same yellow tone against the walls. The floor is littered with paper and dirt and things that his screen circles and beeps at, broken glass and metal scraps. A sofa is pushed to the side of the room, its brown leather so tattered and faded Yuto knows it's most likely a remnant from a past owner. The desk seems to be newer, though. He turns to it again and lets his screen scan across it, showing the heat coming from it, the fingerprints he’s told are his. There’s three monitors on the desk, and keyboards that glow blue among the mess of wires. These screens are blinking to life, too. There must have been a power cut. 

Yuto unfolds himself from the chair as he waits for them to reload, and busies himself by checking the wires at the walls, the plug extensions, the lights he must have somewhere. There’s a tiny fridge he checks too, as old and dirty as the sofa, though there’s nothing in it. He doesn’t think it’s ever been used. He can’t remember doing any of this before, but his body moves easily through the routine, and he realises he must have. He doesn't recognise the street below when he peers around the drapes, but he doubts it will take long to gain his bearings. Yuto looks his body over once and finds no obvious flaw- that just leaves the computers.

The first screen tells him nothing. Half a dozen snapshots of landscapes and buildings are lined neatly across the screen, unmoving and unfamiliar. The next is more confusing, but seems to be a long string of code his monitor flickers over and immediately starts to flash, the world tinted red and glaring. His head hurts as he tries to work through the code anyway, but it's interrupted halfway through a line, and there’s a group of letters at the end which have been corrupted, or perhaps added as his hands fell across the keyboard when the power died. He deletes the coding quickly- unsure of its purpose- and calms as his monitor stops blaring scarlet. Was that his work? Or was he trying to undo someone else’s? The last screen is different still, black and white lines cutting across the display. It’s a map, he realises, with certain spots marked with blue dots or a string of numbers. There’s notes stuck around it, dark-inked letters hard to read in the dim. Yuto focuses on them until they’re made clearer. Most are filled with lists of single words, some of which have been scored through. There are other more confusing scraps, filled with notes on energy readings, weather changes, reported or rumoured happenings. Yuto looks at the map again, the blue dots scattered across the grid, and the landscape photos of the first screen. 

He was trying to find something. He can’t remember what.

Yuto stands and pulls a loose wire towards him. A quick body scan shows him there's a socket on the inside of his arm, just under the joint of his left elbow. Yuto rolls up the thick dark material of his jacket, sliding his hand over his arm until he finds the hinge. The section lifts easily to show sockets and wiring, and he plugs the wire into his arm and waits as the middle computer screen changes. A buzz travels down his body, and he closes his eyes against the uneasy sensation, and then charts and graphs fill the screen. His name is in the middle- Yuto, he reads- as well as his serial number, software type, latest update. There’s a code for his maker there, too, but he ignores it- the programmers haven’t been around for years, he remembers that much. The charts showing his activity and health are fine- there’s no unusual glitches in the readings, his heart is working fine, there are no viruses or damage to his body. Yuto riffles through pages of information until he finally catches something more useful. 

The words ‘ **energy** **surge** ’ and ‘ **overload** ’ are all he reads before unplugging himself, and throwing himself back into the desk chair. His fingers dart across a keyboard until the middle screen shows a map similar to the confusing one to his right. He types into a bar at the top, and it reconfigures into patches of orange and purple. It doesn’t take long to find the right time and place; the energy surge was huge. Yuto flicks between one frame and the next, eye blown wide as he sees the huge cloud of purple explode suddenly outwards. He presses a spot near his ear and saves an image of the map. He jots down the location and stands- he hesitates as he goes to leave, turning back to shut down the computers before he leaves the apartment. He triple locks the door and stares at the heavy locks in surprise. The screen full of code fills his mind. Whatever he was trying to find, he wanted to find fast, but whether his motivations were good or bad, he can’t tell.

The trail leads him outside the city’s inner sector, past the busiest streets to where the tall buildings grow shorter and less frequent. The night is grey and foggy when he starts his search, but the sky is pure black by the time he reaches the graveyard. The written location only gets him this far. 

He stands at the gates for a second, scanning the area. There’re no signs of life, or whatever else he is looking for- some hint of familiarity, some hint that he had been here before. He pushes the tall, onyx gates open wider and loads the image of the energy burst so it sits at the edge of his sight- the dark shapes of monuments and trees are less well kept and ordered than here, and he presses slowly forward, stopping every few minutes to scan the area for similarities. The grass gets thinner then dies, so that his thick boots fall softly against scorched and solid ground. The trees are bare and crooked, reaching down towards the gravestones. They’re spaced wide apart here, grey and cracked and leaning. No flowers or toys add colour to the faded landscape. Eventually, Yuto stops amongst wild patches of weeds: the mausoleum in front of him matches the shadowy patch on the energy map, right where the purple bloomed.

It’s been no longer than an hour since the burst of energy exploded from this point, and yet there’s nothing to suggest as much, at first. The mausoleum is rundown but shut, and a scan shows no movement or life within. The trees sway in the slight wind, also empty and mundane. Yuto frowns, and adjusts his screen. Only once the darkness is elevated can he see how black the ground is. A wide, uneven circle around the crypt is charred and flat, slight trails of stream creeping over the ground. Fissures of black reach outwards here and there, staining the mud in jagged lines. Yuto kneels and presses his hands to the earth- it’s cold, like everywhere else. He goes to stand, and freezes.

Something is moving amongst the trees to his left. Yuto presses himself closer to the dark ground, scanning the area. There is still no heat signal, and his monitor doesn’t seem to pick up on the movement. Somehow, it feels worse that there’re no warnings. The figure gets closer, slinking through the rows of graves. Yuto makes out the shape of its torso just as it splits in half- not one, but two. He can’t see their faces, if they have any, only the bright white of their clothes stand out against the shadow. They aren’t particularly large, as he had feared, but they have a strange way of moving, of folding and twisting, that makes Yuto shrink even closer to the mausoleum. The figures lurch closer, and he sees that they’re both bent over. They’re looking at the ground. Searching between the graves. 

Yuto peers closer.

A huge weight barrels into his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! More characters will be introduced soon... 0_0


	2. A Ghoul's Gotta Eat

Yuto is thrown onto his side, hearing his face scrape across the ground. The world is nothing but a chaos of dirt for a few seconds, and then something is pulling at his legs. Yuto kicks desperately, trying to find the figures again, but the hands keep pulling. He’s flipped onto his stomach; the thing on top of him growls. Yuto throws his elbow backwards, wildly, as his legs scramble over the burnt earth. His attacker yelps as he connects with something- Yuto crawls forward and leaps upright. The corner of the graveyard where the figures had been is empty. There’s a few ragged breaths from behind him. Yuto darts forward.

He only makes it a few paces before being pinned against the mausoleum. There’s an arm across his throat. It presses tighter, and his screen glitches. Yuto’s hands claw against the hold as a face comes into his vision. The man towers over him, boxing Yuto in easily. He’s far thinner than the awful strength had suggested, and Yuto struggles as his arms are slammed to the stone either side of his head. All he can see of the man's face are rows of teeth. They're bared further as his lips stretch into a smile. They’re perfectly white and straight, but most sharpen to a point. The man leans back a little, as if to catch his breath, but the strength doesn’t weaken.

“Finally” a breathy voice purrs.

The man darts forward before Yuto can move, and jaws clamp around his shoulder, just at the base of his neck. Alarms scream in Yuto’s head as his screen blares red. He hits frantically at the man’s head, but it is already pulling back.

The man collapses onto all fours, retching loudly. One hand grips his stomach, scratching at thin, dark fabric as he coughs and splutters.

Yuto glances down at his shoulder: some of his skin has been ripped off, and he can see wires and gears between the slashes in his clothes. From what he can see, none of the machinery has been damaged too badly. The beast on the floor’s eyes lock onto his. They shift to his exposed shoulder, and it curses.

The man sits, leaning back on his hands. He runs one through ruffled fair hair, shot through with streaks of blonde and looks Yuto over once.

“Sorry” he says.

Yuto turns off the warning in his head and looks over to the graves again. The darkness is empty- whatever or whoever the figures were are long gone. The man on the floor is still catching his breath. With time to look at him properly, Yuto can see the stains across his clothes, the sheen of sweat across his forehead. His eyes look too bright even in the gloom, too wide and sharp in his thin skull.

But Yuto has no other lead to go on.

“Do you know who they were? Did you see them?”

The man follows his gaze and frowns. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” his voice is raspy and smooth. His breath is even now, and he smiles a little bashfully as he looks up at Yuto. “I was just hungry. No one ever told you not to hang around alone graveyards at night?”

“You- I’m- not human” Yuto stutters.

“Yeah, you don’t have to remind me. I can still taste it.” With a sour expression, he turns and spits over his shoulder. He watches Yuto. “So what are you doing here?”

Yuto doesn’t answer, but starts walking back through the dead grass.

“Are you looking for someone?” The voice comes from right behind him, and he turns to see the tall man is following him. He doesn’t press for an answer when he doesn’t get one, instead asking, in a lower voice “Will your shoulder be alright?”

“I don’t think you ripped through any of the interior, I just need to refix the skin.”

The man laughs awkwardly. “Sorry.” He steps quickly around Yuto and holds out a hand. “Minkyun. Most people call me MK.”

Yuto frowns- the man smiles at him sunnily, as if they hadn’t just met in a graveyard in the middle of the night, one having interrupted the other’s mysterious midnight trespassing by trying to eat him. Yuto shakes Minkyun’s hand. “Yuto.”

MK grins wider. “Nice to meet you.”

Yuto isn’t sure how to respond, again, so he continues towards the graveyard gate.

“So, _are_ you looking for something? What are you trying to find?”

Yuto stops with a hand on the gate. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t-” MK pauses, confused “well, I could help you look, if you want.”

“Why would you do that?”

MK smiles like he’s said something funny and then spreads his arms wide. “It’s not like I have anything else to do, do I. Plus, I’m pretty good at finding things. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to hunt these days.”

“Hunt- humans?”

“Yeah, well, a ghoul’s gotta eat, you know, ha” MK grins goofily, and Yuto gets the impression he’s missed a joke. Minkyun doesn’t seem to hold it against him.

They’re out of the graveyard by now, walking through empty streets in the dark as they get closer to the maze of alleyways the city opens towards them. Minkyun keeps pace easily with Yuto, practically bouncing as he walks, but shows no sign of leaving. Realising he will soon be leading the other to his own apartment, Yuto stops and frowns at him. Minkyun looks back, an eyebrow raised above his wide- but now dark- eyes. “How do I know you’re trying to help me?”

Minkyun shrugs. “It’s not like I can eat you, so what else could I be doing?”

Yuto thinks back to the code on his computer, the mess of notes and images, the shadows between the graves, the maps. He doesn't know how he can trust Minkyun, when he isn’t even sure he trusts himself. Without the shutdown, this would be so much simpler. But as he watches Minkyun’s languid movements beside him, sees the obvious hunger in his frame, and the curious, quick eyes that flicker over his face before going back to gazing down the street, pretending to ignore him, Yuto is struck by another possibility. Maybe Minkyun can help him figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another character woop woop  
> Thanks again for reading! Comments are appreciated :)


	3. Struck

Minkyun tenses as soon as they reach his apartment block. It looms over them, grey stone blending into the early morning gloom, as run down on the outside as it is on the inside. Yuto hadn’t expected the ghoul to care where he lived, but he’s making no move closer to the building. Yuto shuffles awkwardly, and goes to open the door. He jolts to a stop.

Mk’s hand had moved so fast he didn’t see it, but it presses tightly around his arm. Slight creeks come from his exposed shoulder as he’s pulled to Minkyun’s side- the ghouls eyes fly around the street.

“It’s safe,” Yuto mumbles, “I promise.” He looks down at the tensed hand that still holds him, the harsh nails sharp and shining. He gulps. “I won’t hurt you.”

Minkyun shakes his head. “It’s not you I’m worried about.”

Mk’s free hand rises slowly, pointing down the street, just where a trash-filled alleyway hides the side of the building in shadow. The darkness ripples. Hands appear around the brick.

“Has that been following us since the graveyard,” Yuto whispers. Minkyun is still frozen at his side, but shakes his head minutely.

“I don’t know, I can only smell it now”

The hands are joined by feet, just stepping into the street out of the void of the alleyway. “Is it human?”

Minkyun’s eyes are bright again, something red and glinting covering his pupils like foil. He lowers gradually, hands stretched towards the earth, poised like a cat. “I can’t tell, but it's not the only one.”

Yuto doesn’t see the figure until it's upon him. He’s knocked to the floor, a huge figure looming over him as it lands on the gravel. It straightens, and Yuto gapes at the white of its clothes- its jacket and trousers stand out against the night, lined with black fabric and studs, tight enough to show muscles Yuto knows he stands no chance against. 

Mk leaps towards the figure but it whips an arm out, throwing him back with a blow to the chest. He spins in the air once before scraping across the gravel with a yell. The figure leans down and pulls Yuto up, gripping his collar harshly.

The man’s face is oddly human, but the eyes that stare back at him are dark-rimmed and glinting. There's a black line something like a scar across one of them, reaching towards where a few strands of slick, dark hair falls across his forehead. Tattoos cover the exposed skin of his chest. Across his shoulder, Yuto can see Mk with the other figure, similar but for the shock of white hair.

“Where is it,” the man snaps. He drags Yuto’s gaze back to him with a shake, his hand squeezing tighter around his clothes. “Where’s the key?”

Yuto fights against the hold for a second and then droops, letting his body sway as if it'd lost all power. The man hesitates enough for Yuto to kick him once, focusing all of his energy into it. He runs as soon as the man drops him. 

Mk is on his back, grappling with the white haired man. An odd giggling comes from the latter, who’s wide grin leers down at Minkyun as he lashes and kicks. Minkyun frees an arm and strikes out. His attacker falls back with a shriek of pain. His hands clutch his face, but streams of blood are already running through his fingers, and Yuto can see the long scratches across his cheek, claw marks that match the gashes in his own shirt.  Minkyun is on his feet instantly, crouching low as he sprints for Yuto. 

Yuto has his hand on the door when the scene explodes with light and sound. The sky flashes purple then white, a huge lightning bolt striking the floor between him and Mk. A jolt travels up his arm from the metal door handle, and he drops it with a yell. A spark travels up his arm, buzzing, and his screen glitches and blares with warnings. He shakes his head violently, covering his ears.

When the world comes into focus again, Minkyun is crumpled on the floor 10 meters away. He can’t see his face where he curls in his scorched clothes, but his chest moves up and down rapidly. The two figures approach him from different directions. Yuto thinks of his apartment- the computers he doesn’t know the contents of, the search he doesn’t understand, Minkyun’s unending curiosity since the graveyard, his inability to shake of his questions. The dark haired man flips Minkyun onto his back. Yuto reaches for the door handle.

Minkyun yells as he’s kicked in the stomach. The white haired man crouches down and says something with a tilt of his head, but Yuto’s too far away to hear. Minkyun coughs, blood running down his chin. He’s flipped on his back by another kick. His eyes find Yuto at the door briefly, rolling back into his skull. He grimaces, his hands dragging him an inch across the gravel. 

Yuto dives for the dark haired man. He spins as he senses the movement, but Yuto holds his palm out, flashing bright light into his eyes. The man stumbles away with hands over his face, but the other is too fast. He steps over Minkyun, already reaching for Yuto. Minkyun grunts as he hooks a foot around the man’s legs, pulling them from under him. Yuto grabs him as the man falls, but once on his feet, the ghoul is already running. They sprint for the door, throwing themselves into the apartment building. They fly up the dingy stairs, clearing two levels before they look back. The corridor is empty, but they race on regardless. Minkyun yelps as he slips on the damp tile, gripping the balcony. Yuto puts an arm around his torso, partly dragging him the remainder of the way.

Minkyun leans against the wall as Yuto undoes the locks, his head lolling forward, and then they’re in the apartment. Yuto scrambles with the heavy locks, only guiding Minkyun to the sofa once he’s sure they’re secure. Minkyun collapses onto the leather in a cloud of dust. Blood coats his chin in a thick scarlet, staining the top of his shirt. It’s scorched in places- so Yuto can see pale, scratched skin through the gaps- as is his jacket. Yuto pulls the latter from his limp frame, placing the ghoul’s arms carefully at his sides as Minkyun grunts softly, his eyes closing. Yuto pulls his desk chair out and collapses into it, pulling his own jacket off to properly assess the damage to his shoulder. 

Minkyun starts stirring some time after noon. He wakes with a soft, high noise that turns into a wince as he tries to pull himself up. He freezes, moving slower as Yuto turns to look at him. The ghoul rests his head against the wall, offering him a smile. Yuto huffs out a laugh at the brightness of it, frowning. 

Minykyun’s eyes travel around his apartment, trailing over the drapes across the window, the dirty fridge and floor, the computer set up Yuto is sitting at. There’s a thin line at the side of his bottom lip, nothing more than a scratch, and the scrapes and bruises from the night before have vanished almost completely. Yuto had cleaned the blood from his face sometime during the night, but he’d left the jacket off, and Minkyun’s hands cross over his chest, rubbing at his bare arms as he sits in his black t-shirt.

“It’s freezing in here.” 

“Oh,” Yuto starts. He throws Mk’s jacket at him from where it rests across his chair, mumbling an apology as the ghoul struggles to pull the waxy dark fabric around himself. He notices the burn marks with a click of his tongue. He stands and stretches with more overly-dramatic grunting. 

“Whatya doing, cogs,” he says, moving to stand behind Yuto with a hand on the back of his chair.

Yuto rolls his eyes, but lets the ghoul peer at the monitors. “Trying to figure out what all of this means.” He turns to look at Mk, but finds the ghoul scowling in confusion at the images on the screens. Yuto taps a finger on the screen to his right. “I’m pretty sure this one's a map, but I don’t know of where, or” he flicks a post-it note “what any of these mean.”

Minkyun hums like he’s following, so he points to the middle screen.

“This one is just from yesterday, an energy map. The purple mark here is an energy burst- a strong one. It’s what led me to the graveyard.” 

“And these?” Minkyun gestures to the scattered images covering the last screen.

Yuto sighs. “I have no idea. They and the map were left on the computer screen when I powered back up.”

“So you can’t remember why they’re here?”

“No.”

Minkyun hums again, even though Yuto can hear how dry his throat is. Yuto wonders if he talks to himself, when he’s alone. He shakes the thought from his head.

“What you said in the graveyard, I think you’re right, I think I was trying to find,” Yuto shrugs, “ _ something _ .”

“Looks like it,” Mk nods, “but what about last night? I’m assuming you didn't find anything in the graveyard-”

“Because you tried to eat me.”

“Let’s put that behind us- but what about the people who attacked us?”

“They were what I saw in the graveyard, but, I have no idea.”

Minkyun straightens, hitting a rhythm into the side of the desk. Yuto glares at the middle screen, the only one that’s changed since the power outage. 

“They said something to me, after the lighting struck” Mk starts.

“A key?”

“Yeah! Maybe that’s what you were looking for.”

They had asked Yuto where it was, but he hadn’t known they asked Minkyun, too, or that he’d still remember in the morning. Yuto’s stomach lurches at the word. 

“If there’s a key, there’s also something to unlock.”

“Oh, right, yeah” Mk’s voice saddens.

There's a metallic taste in his mouth Yuto thinks is guilt- he doesn't like it. He presses his eyes shut, and sighs. 

“When I woke up again, yesterday, there was strange coding on this monitor. My screen was covered in warnings as soon as I looked at it.”

“What does that mean?”

“That it was illegal. I deleted it right away, but-” Yuto swivels so he can look at Minkyun. “I don’t know what it was. I don’t know” he pauses, letting Minkyun scan his face “if who I was, before I powered up again, could be trusted.”

Minkyun is quiet for a while, pushing himself away from the desk. His face is serious as he studies everything a second time, pouting a little as he nods to himself. When he finally speaks again, the silence so long and dense it makes Yuto’s head spin, “But you can be trusted now,” is all he says.

Yuto frowns. “How can you know that, we don’t even know what I’m trying to find?”

“Because you came back for me. And because you told me all of this, even though you think you might be doing something you shouldn’t.”

“You were hurt because of me, Minkyun.”

“No, I was hurt because those things followed you here. If I wasn’t with you, you’d probably be dead too.”

That’s hard to argue with, and after a night of staring at coded and confusing notes, images he can’t understand and maps that lead him nowhere, Yuto’s head aches. He turns his chair as Minkyun drops back onto the sofa. “So what now?”

“I think we start with the things that attacked us. Maybe if we know what they want, it will be easier to figure all of this out.”

“Could you tell what they are?” Though they looked human, Yuto’s fairly certain that isn’t true. So does Mk, after all. “They didn’t show up on any of my scans.”

Minkyun scratches his head. “At first I couldn’t tell, they were surrounded by too much garbage, but once they were closer I could smell them more. They’re not quite human, but they’re close- they’re bodies definitely smelled the same, but there was something else there, too. Something...wrong.”

Yuto remembers how Minkyun’s eyes lit up when he first noticed them, and tries not to notice how sallow the other’s cheeks are starting to look.

“And the lighting, that was them, right?”

“I think so,” Yuto says, “but maybe just one of them. The thin one didn’t seem to notice the light I used to stun the other.”

“Right. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Yuto smiles, pushing down the twist of embarrassment in his gut as he thinks of himself reaching for the door as Minkyun writhed.

“So,” Minkyun taps at his knees, “they smell  _ mostly _ like humans, could track us from the graveyard without either of us noticing, overpower both of us, control lighting, and appear as if from nowhere.”

“Any ideas?” Yuto grumbles.

“Not many” Minkyun shrugs, gnawing at his lip. His face lights up suddenly, and he bolts upright. “Unless-”

“Unless?”

Mk starts pacing back and forth, sweeping glass and paper from his path as he moves. “There aren’t many things that go undetected like that, and their bodies, at least, were still alive. Human, that is. It would explain the lightning, too.”

Yuto wishes for the thousandth time that his memories weren’t wiped the day before. “Meaning?”

“I think they’re demons,” Minkyun says brightly.

“And that’s- a good thing?”

Mk laughs. “Hell no, we’re lucky to be alive, but,” he holds a finger out in front of him, like a detective, “it means we have somewhere to start. Demons have to be summoned.” 

Yuto frowns, and spins to face his computer. The purple cloud glares back, vivid as the sky during the lightning strike the night before, marking what he now knows is a mausoleum. “A warlock. We need to find a warlock?”

“Ding ding ding” Minkyun chimes. “And I can only think of one strong enough to summon two demons at once and come out alive.”

“If this warlock  _ is _ still alive,” Yuto reminds him.

MK shrugs. “If not, this guy can help us anyway. Whether he _will_ or not is a different question but-” Minkyun’s practically bouncing now, rubbing his hands together as he grins at Yuto.

“Do you know where we can find him?”

Minkyun’s eyebrows wiggle mischievously as he says “I have a few ideas.”

J-us and Wyatt wait by the heavy wooden desk. The man sat at it is turned away, so they can only see the many-ringed fingers that tap at the chair's arm.

"But he doesn't have the key?"

"It appears not," Wyatt's deep voice replies. He glances at J-us, who grins at him under ruffled white hair. A little giggle escapes between his lips, but the other man doesn't seem to mind.

"They're both still alive?"

"Yes," Wyatt answers.

The hand waves them out of the room with a sigh, but they can just hear the words through the wood as they exit out into the crisp, forest air: "Then we should expect company." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WoW this chapter's a long one, mah bad  
> I hope everything makes sense- feel free to ask in the comments if not, but things should still be a little foggy at this point...  
> THANKS FOR READING!


End file.
